THE RATINGS RACE: Week 5, when My Kitchen Rules creamed MasterChef

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On Friday, Craig McLachlan made a big comeback in The Doctor Blake Mysteries, continuing an excellent year for the ABC.

ABBA revisited on Real Humans -- the best show on broadcast TV but pulling only 48,000 viewers at 9.30 on Saturdays.

On Wednesday, Australia's Abba addiction won the ABC its biggest audience for the year so far, and if you add the figure for Friday's repeat, you get 1.5 million for Bang A Boomerang (except that it was probably the same people watching a second time).

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Meanwhile Ten's AACTA awards ceremony attracted the same level of enthusiasm as the average Australian movie.

My Kitchen Rules is beating the pans off Masterchef: The Professionals, which will have to wait for a recovery when viewers decide the MKR contestants are too annoying. Looks like Seven's publicity campaign proclaiming MKR as using "real people" (as opposed to experienced chefs) has worked. See the Monday and Tuesday charts, below.

Yippee, another excuse to run a pic of Agnetha Photo: Gus Stewart

On Sunday, the climactic moments of the tennis final drew 2.2 million in the mainland capitals (go to The TV Australia loved to see how this figure compared with past tennis viewing records), delivering a mighty serve (a tennis metaphor not a waiter metaphor) to MasterChef: The Professionals. on Monday My Kitchen Rules arrived to deliver the coup de grace (a swordfighting metaphor not a French dessert). On Tuesday MKR started breaking records, and MTP slipped further.

This is the daily update of The Sun-Herald's Who We Are column by David Dale, who teaches Communications at UTS, Sydney. He is the author of The Little Book of Australia - A snapshot of Who We Are (Allen and Unwin). For continuing conversation about Australian attitudes, bookmark The Tribal Mind.

10 comments so far

It wasn't actually that good tennis match. Djokovic was playing badly early on, the sets were slow and no one could break serve. Then unfortunately Murray's injuries overwhelmed him.

With Djokovic, Murray and Nadal in the top 3 the grandslam semis and finals are all going to be long slow slugfests. The reforms of the past decades to stop servers holding appear to have come to nought. All it has done is make the play without variation and the rallies endless.

The Revenge figures are for the last two sets of the tennis. 1.6m viewers didn't stay up late to watch a repeat of a recap of the last season of Revenge.

Commenter

Pertinax

Location

Sydney

Date and time

January 28, 2013, 1:24PM

@Perinax: the measures to reduce 'big servers' influence on tennis have been very successful, hence the fact there are now long rallies (the opposite of a server focused game). Yes, the top 4 have great serves, but they have to have a lot more than a great serve to succeed. The key skill they need now is defence - the ability to stay in a point when you opponent is on top.

Commenter

ew75

Date and time

January 29, 2013, 2:20PM

Masterchef didn't do too badly considering the floods, cricket and MKR. It only lost 3% of 16-34s and 10% of 18-39s.

MKR is popular because its contestants are carefully selected to be a mix annoying baddies and nice goodies.

Commenter

Pertinax

Location

Sydney

Date and time

January 29, 2013, 11:03AM

I have never watched MKR. The ads are annoying enough. I don't need to watch to know I'll hate it. Besdies I watch MC and even though that is annoying sometimes too, I prefer the format. And I like the judges better. So Seven can keep their "real people:" Whatever that means. Frankly, I am getting a bit over cooking shows in general. And talent shows. And realtiy shows. In fact, the whole, cooking-realtiy-talent shows are past their use by date.I wouldn't care if I never saw any "reality" show ever again.

Please networks, hurry up and stop advertising all the new shows coming and get on with it. I've had enough of Tennis, Cricket and various other sporting offerings and rubbish shows.

The silly season is behind us, surely?

Commenter

em

Date and time

January 29, 2013, 11:09AM

So, I've missed the tennis, eh? Can I miss the cricket too, please? And the football (all codes, I'm not fussy).

Got caught up last night watching "The Mindy Project", just because I was too lazy to surf away (and frankly the trailer looked fairly appalling, so I'm glad for my laziness). Good fun stuff. I think it was Channel Seven.

Don't care about cooking contests, celebrity or otherwise.

Hope everyone is surviving the deluge. Very happy to see some blue skies today in Sydney.

Commenter

tqd

Date and time

January 29, 2013, 3:54PM

Yes, I'll take 'MasterChef' over 'Ky Kitchen Rules' any day. MKR is bitchy and cheesy and aspires to nothing but more bitchiness and cheesiness.You have to admit though, that channel Seven seems to know something about Australians. I think "Australians" do prefer "real people" who are good enuff to get their heads on tellie but not good enuff to actually be good at anything. Not better than them, at least. Unfortunately, there's something satisfying in that.It's like Seven's made MKR specifically to cater to the tall poppy syndrome.

MKR just smashing Masterchef now. Another silly scheduling idea from Ten? The Renovators vs The Block. I Will Survive vs The X Factor. They just don't learn.

Commenter

J Bar

Date and time

January 30, 2013, 11:28AM

Just heard something about Seven and Nine dumping some shows? Pity they don't dump Sunrise and Today. Especially Karl Krapanovic. That guy turns into more of a tool everyday, if that's even possible. If he gets another Gold Logie I will "chuck a mental". Really, I don't know why I even tune into the news on Today anymore. Why don't I learn my lesson and just watch the ABC instead? But no... I have to watch Nine whilst eating my brekkie. Silly me.

This morning he really got my goat. He was interviewing the PM and was really getting agro with his questions. I suppose he thought he was asking the "tough" questions as he is a "real" journalist. But he just came across as a jerk. And a partisan one at that. He never asks Dear Tony hard questions. In fact, you can feel the love whenever he interviews TA. I don't have a problem with a real journalist (obviously not Karl!) asking hard questions of pollies but they need to do it with both sides and not be so obvious about which side of the politcal divide their on.

And I suppose we have 9 months of this. I think I will have to go live in a cave till this is all over. Or I shall end up chucking something through the telly. "Real journalists" indeed.

I guess I mourn for the days when a journalist actually did their job and reported both sides of an argument.

Commenter

em

Date and time

January 31, 2013, 1:35PM

*Holding hand up as one of the watchers of " ABBA: BANG A BOOMERANG" on Wed night* Well, ay least it was both entertaining and slightly informative LOL.

Have been watching The Drum on News 24 and am becoming very impressed with the host's questioning abilities... and his fairness... oh yeah Steve Finnane?? ANyways..... that's enuff of politics til Tuesday morning.

Highlight of each weeknight has been Craig Ferguson. Nothing like... oh bugger Missed Jinsey... shall have to pop over to iview..... life wasn't meant to be easy.

Oppsssss

Commenter

Furlozza

Date and time

February 01, 2013, 1:46AM

It's really upsetting to see MKR beating Masterchef. MKR is such a poor show. Masterchef may be ageing a little, but it's a fantastic program and i'm enjoying the most recent incarnation.

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